Murderer Too Young
by Slayer87
Summary: FINISHED! AU. Angel loves Buffy Summers, but she only see's him as a friend. When Angel gets jealous of Buffy's date, he, with the help of Spike, do something in which changes things forever.
1. Default Chapter

Hey all. This is a quick 3-chapter fic that I just had to do. It's AU and everyone is human. This is taken from my friend's idea she had for school but I just changed the characters. It's a murder story so expect some mystery involved.  
  
Disclaimer: All BtVS/AtS characters belong to Joss Whedon and ME. This plot and idea belongs to my friend Felisha, who gave me permission to use.  
  
Angel O'Connor pulled up to 1630 Revello Drive, honking his horn and turning down the radio, knowing that she didn't like the music too loud. Looking quickly in his mirror, he made sure hair, teeth, and face was ok before giving the approval. He saw her coming out of the corner of his eye and he threw on his sunglasses.  
  
"Here's your chance Angel, don't blow it," he muttered to himself. He sighed and hit the door unlock button, letting her in. He stared straight ahead, not making eye contact, waiting for the right moment before he would speak. Without thought, he watched her slide into the leather seat next to him, saw the jean shorts she was wearing, noticed the cute little sneakers she loved to wear.  
  
"Hey Angel. Right on time as usual. How was your summer?" Angel smiled. It was the same routine. One year of him picking her up, her asking how he was, him responding.  
  
"Good, thanks. How you doing Buffy?" He loved saying her name. Buffy. It was like it was the only word that ever sounded right in his ears. Ok, he was lovesick and he knew it. He had been for several years. Third grade, to be precise. But this was it. He was finally going to tell her how he felt. It was probably his last chance too. Next year was college and he didn't know if he'd ever see her again.  
  
"Well, are you ready to go Señior O'Connor? Buffy asked. Angel, suddenly chickening out, nodded and put his car in drive. With a sigh, he hoped his confidence would return later.  
  
After finding the last spot in the senior parking lot, Angel parked and shut off the ignition. Clearing his throat, he looked over at his friend and forced a smile.  
  
"Well, we're here," he stated. Buffy nodded.  
  
"Well, I better go. I promised Willow when I talked to her last night that I'd meet her in the office. Catch you later then?" she said. Angel nodded. Buffy opened the door and got out, walking casually toward the school. Sighing, Angel copied her act and got out of his car. Making sure it was locked, he then turned to see another one of his blonde friends in front of him.  
  
"Spike. Why do you do that? Ever hear that sneaking out on people is bad for your health?" Angel asked, starting to walk.  
  
"Nice to see you too, Peaches! Have a good summer then? Hope you didn't forget to brood," Spike threw in. Angel ignored him.  
  
"What bug crawled up your ass today? Oh, let me guess. It wouldn't have anything to do with Buffy Summers would it?" Spike asked. Angel stopped walking and looked over at his best friend.  
  
"Can we talk about something else?" Angel asked. Spike snickered.  
  
"Chickened out didn't you? And the great poof strikes again!"  
  
"Oh, like you wouldn't?" Spike smirked.  
  
"Spike Crawford doesn't chicken out," he replied. "You forget Angel, I'm not like you."  
  
"Then tell me, what would William Crawford do?" Angel asked, finally reaching his locker and opening it.  
  
"Well, I would stop being such a ponce and go for it. But of course, thankfully, I'm not you," Spike replied. Turning to leave, he shook his head. "See you around mate."  
  
"Yeah, whatever," Angel muttered.  
  
6th period finally ended and the school emptied quickly. Angel, Buffy, Willow, and Xander walked together out into the nice still summer day.  
  
"So what are you guys doing tonight?" Xander asked, putting his arm around Willow.  
  
"Probably nothing. I already have homework. It really sucks," Buffy said. "But you were thinking Bronze huh?" Xander nodded.  
  
"I think I can squeeze in a little dancing tonight. What about you Angel? You coming with?" Buffy asked.  
  
"Yeah party boy, what do you say?" Spike asked, walking up behind them. Angel shrugged.  
  
"Yeah, sure. I'll be there," he said.  
  
"Don't you just love the enthusiasm?" Spike asked.  
  
"You just be quiet Spike," Buffy warned. "Why are you always mean to Angel? You would think you English people would know how to be nice to people." Spike snickered.  
  
"Oh, I'm nice luv. And I don't always pick on poor Angel here. It's just fun," he said.  
  
"Come on Angel. I need you to drive me home if that's ok," Buffy asked. Angel nodded and they walked together.  
  
"Don't forget Angel! About you little problem, do what I would do!" Spike shouted, getting a glare from Angel and confused looks from Buffy, Willow, and Xander.  
  
"Why would Angel do anything you would do? I think the complete opposite is in order. I mean we don't want Angel to turn out like you," Xander said.  
  
"Shut it Harris. This is about something you need not to know about. Don't worry, it'll be a good decision," Spike quipped.  
  
"Is it about getting Angel and Buffy together?" Willow asked. Spike raised an eyebrow, seriously thinking how smart he realized the redheaded girl was.  
  
Teenagers swarmed the dark warehouse that was now the Bronze. Music loud, people talking, couples kissing, was the usual. Xander and Willow were at a table enjoying the atmosphere and each other.  
  
"Do you think Angel should go for it? I mean, isn't the 'friends-to-couple' thing bad?" Xander asked. Willow raised an eyebrow.  
  
"Oh, you mean the thing that we followed?" she asked. Xander grinned sheepishly. "Don't worry about them ruining their friendship. I know Buffy and I think she likes him."  
  
"But what if she doesn't?"  
  
"Then things will crumble. But don't worry. I have a feeling things are good in the Buffy world." Willow assured.  
  
"Buffy!" Xander yelled.  
  
"Of course Buffy, who did you think I was talking about?" Willow asked.  
  
"Buffy, good of you to join us!" Xander said. Willow's deer-caught-in- headlights look caused him to laugh. Buffy was standing behind Willow, arms crossed.  
  
"Hi Willow, my best friend." She greeted, humor in her voice. Willow, face almost matching her hair, waved meekly.  
  
"Hey. We were just talking-" Xander said.  
  
"About me. So I heard. What was so interesting about me?" Xander looked to Willow, who shook her head, knowing her boyfriend was going to say.  
  
"Uh, we were just saying how your life is way better than ours, and.... that's about it," Xander said. Buffy rolled her eyes.  
  
"Sure, whatever. So where's Angel... and Spike?"  
  
"They'll be here soon," Willow said. "See, there they are." They all turned to see Angel and Spike walk into the club and spot them.  
  
"Hey," Angel greeted and sat down. A song started up, causing Buffy to smile.  
  
"Well, since it's the beginning of the year and Fiona Apple is playing, you know what time it is?" she asked Angel.  
  
"It's time for a time honored classic!" Xander announced.  
  
"Come on Angel! We have to," Buffy begged. Angel shook his head.  
  
"No, not this year," he said. "Why don't you ask Xander or someone?"  
  
"Well Xander is taken and then otherwise it wouldn't be a tradition," Buffy said. Angel rolled his eyes and sighed dramatically.  
  
"Fine, let's go," he gave in. Buffy smiled and dragged him to the dance floor.  
  
"Now I know I saw it last year, but you all never did explain to me why they do this thing," Spike said, sitting down in Buffy's seat.  
  
"Well, it's a tradition for them since 6th grade. Every Back-to-School- Dance they dance one dance together. Even though Angel never dances, this is the one time he will," Willow explained.  
  
"Why don't we have a tradition?" Xander asked her.  
  
"We have the Snoopy Dance thing every Christmas," Willow reminded him. Spike raised a scared eyebrow at them.  
  
"Don't know why I fancy hanging out with you traditional freaks," he wondered aloud.  
  
"Well, we freaks have our own fun," Xander said, then turned to Willow. "Care to dance M'lady?" Willow smiled goofily.  
  
"An honor, Good Sir." And away they went, Xander whisked Willow to where Buffy and Angel were dancing.  
  
"Freaks alright," Spike muttered.  
  
End of part one. Don't worry, gets more into the plot next chapter. Review! 


	2. Saturday Night Gone Wrong,Horribly Wrong

Murderer Too Young  
  


Chapter 2: Saturday night gone wrong, so horribly wrong!

The bell for lunch sounded through the halls of Sunnydale High School. Doors swung open, teenagers spilling out. Angel walked out with Buffy from physics class, trying to avoid the madness.

"So where do you want to go for lunch?" Buffy asked, stopping at her locker and putting a couple books inside. Angel shrugged.

"It doesn't matter. Wherever you want to go," he replied. "Uh so listen, Buffy. I, uh, wanted to ask you something.... important."

"Sure, what is it?" Before Angel could continue, they noticed someone walk up to them. Riley Finn, captain of the Sunnydale High football team stood in front of Buffy.

"Hey, Buffy. How are you?" he asked. Angel stood patently, hoping the creep would go away. During PE last year, he would always overhear Riley and his buds boasting about all the girls they slept with. He was going to be damned if he was just going to stand there and let Buffy be his next victim.

"Good, I'm good. So, what's up Riley?" Buffy asked. Angel tried to interrupt but his mouth wouldn't move. Riley looked down, looking like he was working up courage. Angel didn't buy it.

"I was wondering if we could talk. I need to ask you something," he replied. Buffy nodded. Riley glanced over at Angel as if he just realized he was standing there.

"Oh, you don't mind do you Angel? I know you wanted to ask me something but could it wait until later?" she asked. Angel nodded. "Ok then. I will see you later. 6th period ok. You can tell me then." Angel again nodded. Buffy closed her locker and started to leave with Riley.

"Wait!" Angel called out. Both Riley and Buffy stopped and looked back. "What about lunch?" he asked. Riley looked like he was going bust up laughing but Buffy didn't seem to notice the dumbness of the question.

"I'll have to take a rein check on that. Maybe tomorrow 'kay," she apologized nicely, so nicely that it broke Angel's heart. Nodding, he slowly turned around and started to walk away. He could hear her laugh at something Riley said. With clenched fists, he mentally kicked himself for blowing another chance, quite possibly his last chance. He knew if Riley pushed the right buttons and said the right things, Buffy would be taken by the end of the day.

"Well, it looks to me as if someone got in your way," Spike quipped from a corner in the hallway.

"Why are you always rubbing everything in at the worst possible moment?" Angel asked. Spike ignored the question.

"Got your knickers in a twist because Buffy wants to hang out with Macho Man and not you?"

"Is there a sign on my chest letting everyone know what I'm thinking?" Angel asked. Spike chuckled.

"Look, don't be so glum mate! I know Buffy pretty well now and I reckon that she ain't gonna fall for that American Hero crap." Angel sighed.  
  
"You really think so?" he asked. Spike patted Angel's shoulder.

"No, I really don't," he replied. "How 'bout this. We go out and grab something to eat, your treat, and that'll get your mind off of your bird."

"Fine, whatever," Angel replied, following Spike to the parking lot.

9:30. He couldn't take it anymore. Picking up the phone, Angel punched in the seven numbers stored into his brain and waited.

"Hello?"

"Buffy? It's me," he spoke, sitting down on his bed. "You're home?"

"Yeah, why wouldn't I be?" she asked.

"Well, you weren't in 6th period today. I thought something was wrong. I was worried." He could just see her smile through the line.

"Angel, that's so sweet of you to worry, but I'm ok. I just went out to lunch with Riley and we lost track of time so I just decided not to go back." Angel frowned. It was Riley's fault she was not there. **'What a jerk'**, he thought.

"So, I wanted to ask you something earlier and-"

"Can I ask you something first before I forget?" Buffy interrupted. Angel nodded and when he realized she couldn't see him, he spoke.

"Uh, sure."

"What are you doing tomorrow night? Saturday?" Silently, he thanked whoever gave him this gift.

"Uh, nothing. Why?" he asked.

"Well, Mom is out of town and I was wondering if you could watch Dawn," Buffy replied. Angel was confused now.

"Wait, you want me to come over tomorrow to help you watch Dawn?" he asked. Buffy laughed.

"No, I'm going out tomorrow and you're the only other person Dawn wants to watch her."  
  
"Where are you going?" he asked her.  
  
"Riley is taking me to a movie. Isn't that great? I mean, I'm going with Riley Finn. Who would have ever thought?" she said. Angel went back into his brooding mode.  
  
"I sure didn't," he replied monotonously. Giving up, he sighed. "Yeah, I'll watch Dawn for you."  
  
"Thanks so much Angel. You have no idea how much this means to me," she thanked.  
  
"No problem. See you tomorrow night," he said and hung up. Getting up, he went to his nightstand and opened a drawer. He took out two tickets. They were for Icecapades tomorrow night. Buffy loved to ice skate and he was going to ask her to go with him. With a final sigh, Angel tore the tickets in two and threw them across the room.

Señora Garcia didn't show. It was her turn to watch the students present for Saturday school and her parrot was sick. The sub told the class to sit. Pretty soon, he was asleep. Angel sketched silently while most of the class decided to talk instead.  
  
"Now what did she do? You look like hell hit you in the face," Spike asked, sitting in an empty chair next to Angel.  
  
"Again, why do you do that?" Angel asked.  
  
"She's going out with the Ken doll huh?" Spike said. Angel looked over at him. "Great thing about the boy's locker rooms, you hear some interesting things. Riley was gabbing to all his little pals."  
  
"Yeah, so what? I quit Spike ok. I just don't want to even think right now," Angel replied, going back to work on his drawing.  
  
"Lucky for you, I know a way to get rid of the ponce and you get the girl," Spike said. Angel snickered.  
  
"Oh really? How's that?"  
  
"Show Riley how much you love her by knocking his lights out." Angel stopped sketching.  
  
"What do you mean?" he asked.  
  
"The team has practice Saturday nights. I reckon that afterwards, he'll take Buffy out. You wait until he's alone, beat the hell out of him, and then Buffy is left all alone. She thinks he stood her up; you take the chance and show her your feelings. And wham! You take her for yourself," Spike explained. Angel thought for a minute.  
  
"That could work. But wait, why are you helping me do all this?" Spike shrugged.  
  
"What are friends for?" he replied.

Angel walked up to the front door. He whistled happily and knocked. Buffy opened the door, already dressed and smiled.  
  
"Hey Angel. Come on in. Dawn's watching TV in the living room," she greeted. Angel walked in and went over into the living room. 12-year old Dawn Summers was sitting on the couch and looked up when the two walked into the room.  
  
"Hi," she greeted. Angel smiled at the young girl.  
  
"Dawn, be good for Angel," Buffy ordered.  
  
"So, Riley's coming down here?" Angel asked. Buffy shook her head.  
  
"No, I'm going to meet him at the school later. I just have to go do something before and then I'm going to head over there," she said.  
  
'Everything is still in place,' Angel thought to himself. "Cool. Well, have a good time then." Buffy grabbed her purse and walked towards the door.  
  
"Thanks, I hope to," she replied. Then looking to her sister, "Dawn, be in bed by the time I get back." The younger Summers nodded, rolling her eyes. With that, Buffy closed the door behind her.  
  
"Ok kiddo, what do you say to Spike coming down to watch you?" Angel asked Dawn. The girl's eyes brightened.  
  
"Really?" she asked. "Spike's coming down?" Angel nodded. As if on cue, the doorbell chimed through the house and Angel went to open it. Spike stood there in his black duster.  
  
"Hey Lil' Bit. Heard you could use some company," he said to Dawn. The pre- teen got up and walked over to the bleach-haired man.  
  
"I got this new movie that we can watch. It has a whole bunch of action and gore," she told him. Spike chuckled.  
  
"Yeah, we can check it out," he said. Dawn was obviously trying not to jump up and down with excitement as she walked back into the living room. Spike grinned at Dawn.  
  
"Ok Spike, I'm going to head over to the school now. I'll call if anything goes wrong. Otherwise, expect me back in a couple hours."  
  
"Right. Hurry though, you don't want to miss the git." Angel took a deep breath and left.

The Sunnydale High School boy's locker room was silent except for the running water coming from the showers. Angel crouched behind a towel bin. He could hear Riley humming some off beat tune. He jumped a mile high when he felt someone tap his shoulder.  
  
"Spike? What the hell are you doing here? You're supposed to be watching Dawn," he said when he saw who it was. Spike looked over toward the showers.  
  
"I got Xander to watch her. I'm here to make sure you don't screw up and get your ass kicked."  
  
"Well be quiet. He's showering right now. The other guys left 10 minutes ago. I'm going to wait until he's done and then jump him," Angel said.  
  
"I've got a better idea. Listen, you go to the cafeteria and wait in the kitchen. I'll lead nancy boy over there," Spike told him.  
  
"Why the cafeteria?"  
  
"This bloke is a football player. If things get really nasty we'll at least have weapons there. Now stop asking questions and go," Spike replied. Angel sighed and headed over to the door.  
  
**Kitchen**  
  
Angel waited by some pantries. It was ghostly dark, save for the only light coming from the frosted windows. Hearing footsteps, he went on defense mode and could see bright blonde hair walking towards him. Spike came into full view and looked back behind him.  
  
"Is he coming?" Angel asked. Spike nodded. He was breathing fast and kept looking behind him.  
  
"Yeah. He's comin' all right. Stole his wallet."  
  
"Ok, so now what?"  
  
"When he comes, knock him out with this," Spike replied, handing Angel a little wooden club. He handed him the wallet. "I'll be in the shadows. Best he thinks it's just you he's facing." They both heard another pair of footsteps coming and Spike retreated to a hidden corner.  
  
"I'm gonna find you Spike. I don't have time to play games," Riley yelled. He saw Angel standing in the middle of the kitchen and chuckled. "O 'Connor."  
  
"What's so funny?" Angel asked.  
  
"You are," Riley replied.  
  
"Want this?" Angel asked, raising up the wallet. Riley's smirk turned into a glare.  
  
"Like I said, I don't have time for this shit. I'm meeting someone." Angel frowned.  
  
"I know," he replied.  
  
"Oh, I get it now. This is about Buffy isn't it?" Riley stated.  
  
"Buffy is mine. You stay the hell away from her," Angel warned.  
  
"Really? I don't see your name on her. Clearly I'm the one she wants."  
  
"And how would you know that?" Angel questioned. "You haven't even gone out with her."  
  
"Well, she agreed to meet me tonight right? And you've known her, what, 12 years? And not once have you gone out," Riley replied.  
  
"You're not taking her out tonight," Angel said.  
  
"Come and stop me."  
  
"You're not getting her," Angel said, lunging at Riley. He threw his fist toward Riley's skull but Riley easily dodged Angel's punch and instead slammed his fist into Angel's middle section.  
  
"Come on! You want her?" Riley yelled. Angel was curled up on the floor clenching his stomach. Tired of waiting, Riley grabbed Angel by his shirt collar and threw him towards a food cart. Now bleeding from a gash on his forehead, Angel struggled to stand.  
  
"Alright, I think it's time for me to have a go at you," Spike announced to Riley. He pulled a cigarette from his duster pocket and lit it, the noise from his lighter clicking loudly. Letting out a drag of smoke, he pulled out a pocket knife from another pocket. Riley took a step back while eyeing the sharp blade.  
  
"You wouldn't," Riley said. Spike tossed his burning cigarette into a nearby trashcan.  
  
"No, but I will," Angel came from behind Riley and jabbed the back of his head. Loosing balance, Riley fell forward right onto Spike's knife. Yelling in agony, Riley looked down at his arm where the blade was embedded. Spike pulled out his knife and watched as Riley passed out. Angel stared in shock at the whole scene then glared at Spike. After gaining his senses back, he bent down to check Riley's pulse.  
  
"He's still alive. Oh, and what the hell Spike?! A knife? You pulled out a knife? This is not a remake of The Westside Story. We were supposed to knock his face in, not almost kill him!" he yelled. Taking off his sweatshirt, he ripped it into long strips.  
  
"What are you doing?" Spike asked. Angel looked up at him. Trails of crimson dripped downward from Angel's gash.  
  
"I'm keeping him alive. Just because I hate him doesn't mean I want him dead."  
  
"Why not? Not like he's much of a human being anyways," Spike asked.  
  
"Let's get out of here," Angel said, standing up.  
  
"We can't do that mate," Spike said.  
  
"Why not?"  
  
"Do you think he's not going to tattle on us when he wakes up? Use your brain Angel. We have to finish it," Spike said, getting out his knife again.  
  
"Wait! You can't kill him!" Angel yelled.  
  
"Yeah, I can. Wanna see?" Spike replied.  
  
"I can't let you. There's too much evidence." Spike looked at Angel for a few moments before sighing. Going to the sink, he rinsed off Riley's blood, dried it, and returned it to his pocket.  
  
"Fine. But we can't just leave him out. Help me put him in here," he said, nodding toward a metal storage. Angel nodded and the two picked up Riley and put him inside.  
  
"Go clean up. Won't do too well to return all bloody," Spike told Angel.  
  
"Yeah, good idea. Try to clean up this place ok. Make sure things are in place," Angel instructed. When he left, Spike lit up another cigarette and went to the freezer where Riley was. Going behind it, he plugged it into the outlet. Coming back around to the front, he put the latch on and snapped the lock shut.  
  
"Ok, everything in place," he said. With that, he left the kitchen.

Angel ran full speed to the Summers house. Halfway there, he remembered his car was sitting in the parking lot but it was too late to turn back now. When he arrived, the driveway was still empty, which meant no Buffy but he did see Xander's car parked out front.  
  
When he got to the door, he stopped and tried to even his breathing. He put his hand to his cut to check for blood but it had dried already. Giving one last deep breath, he opened the door and entered. The house was dark save for the living room. He spotted Xander.  
  
"Hey man, what's up?" Xander said when he came in. It was well past 10 o'clock and he saw Dawn asleep on the couch.  
  
"Long story," Angel replied.  
  
"Whoa! What happened to your forehead? Get into a fight or something?" Xander asked.  
  
"I, uh, fell. Down the stairs," Angel replied.  
  
"Ok then. Gotta watch out for those stairs eh?" Xander said, raising his eyebrows to match his sarcasm.  
  
"Go head and go if you want. I'll watch Dawn until Buffy gets back."  
  
"Naw, it's ok. Willow's in the kitchen making popcorn. We were going to watch a movie," Xander said. "Wanna join us?"  
  
"Sure, why not," Angel replied.  
  
"The door burst open and Buffy stood there for a moment. A small frown was etched on her face but it disappeared when she saw Xander and Angel.  
  
"Xander, what are you doing here?" she asked.  
  
"I'm your sister's third babysitter. Angel had to run out and called Spike. But he had to run too and here I am. Oh, and Will's here too," he explained. Buffy nodded.  
  
"Oh ok. But, I'm not going to have to pay all four of you am I?" she asked.  
  
"No, don't need to pay me or Spike," Angel said.  
  
"Same here. You know I love watching the Dawnster," Xander said. "So Buffy, care to join us in a classic viewing of Apocalypse Now?"  
  
"No, I'm just not up for it tonight Xand," she replied.  
  
"What's wrong?" Angel asked, knowing exactly why his friend was so glum. "Your date go ok?" Buffy frowned again.  
  
"No. Riley totally stood me up. I went to the school and waited by the gym like he told me to and he never showed up. I waited for an hour," she replied.  
  
"What a jerk!" Xander said. Willow came into the living room at that moment, bowl of popcorn and some cokes in her hands.  
  
"Hey Buffy! Have fun?" she asked, usual cheery smile on her face.  
  
"Buffy was telling us how Riley blew her off," Xander told the redhead. Willow opened her mouth in shock.  
  
"Oh Buffy. I'm sorry. You really liked him huh?" she asked, giving her best friend a hug. Buffy nodded. Angel was drowning in guilt with every second. He prayed the topic would change soon.  
  
"I'm just going to go upstairs and go to bed. Angel, could you carry Dawn to her room?" she asked.  
  
"Yeah," he replied and went over to pick up the sleeping girl. He walked to the stairs and took her up.  
  
"Well I guess we'll leave too," Willow said, and headed back to the kitchen with the snacks.  
  
"No, go ahead and stay the night. Xander can have the couch and Will can come up to my room," Buffy told them. "Are you staying too Angel?" she called to him. A few seconds later, he came down.  
  
"No, I have to get home. I'll see you guys on Monday," he replied, heading to the door. He left with the saddened face of Buffy in his mind.


	3. In Too Deep

Guilt was like a shadow. Even when you couldn't see it, it was always there. Angel lay in bed wide-eyed. Sleep was nowhere near now as thousands of thoughts plagued his mind. The sound of Riley's cry when he was pushed into the knife, the look on his face before he passed out. How could he just leave him there? He had told Spike that he hated Riley for many reasons but that didn't mean Riley deserved to be attacked like that. What if he died from blood loss? That was a bucket of guilt that would stay with Angel forever, no matter how much time went by. No, he wouldn't let it get that far.  
  
'Damn it!' he thought to himself. Without anymore thought, Angel sat up and pulled on his jeans and sweatshirt that he found on the floor. Looking toward his bedside clock that read 3:01 in bright red, he figured too much time had passed and he was now in a danger zone. Quietly sneaking out as to not wake his parents and soon remembering his car was still at the school, Angel started his walk to Sunnydale High.

When he arrived, he was relieved that the doors were still open, meaning a janitor hadn't come that night. The cafeteria was darker than it had been earlier and he took the risk by flipping on a light. It wasn't that bright, but there was a chance that someone who was walking this time of night would see it. Walking to the steel box that they stuffed Riley into earlier, he paused for a minute.  
  
"Riley," he called out. "It's Angel. Listen man, I know you probably feel like hell right now, I just wanted to apologize before I open the door. I didn't know it would go that far. I had no idea Spike was dumb enough to take out a knife and- wait, I actually did think Spike was that dumb but that's not the point," he explained. Moving his hand, he touched the metal and his whole body froze. He felt coldness seeping through the steel and for the first time his ears registered the slight hum of the motor running.  
  
'It's a freezer!' his mind yelled. Without a second's thought, Angel grabbed the handle and pulled but the door didn't budge. Eyes finally trailed upward and saw the heavy lock that was keeping the door from opening. Where the lock came from, he didn't know. Going to the back of the freezer, he yanked the plug from the outlet to buy time. He didn't know how long someone could last locked in a freezer but he knew it wasn't long.  
  
"I need to get the lock open now," he mumbled to himself. Opening drawers, he searched for something heavy enough to break the lock. All he found were kitchen utensils and whatnot. When he searched through some cupboards, he found a metal rolling pin and tested its weight in his hands. 'Good enough,' he though.  
  
Raising it above his head, Angel used the end on the rolling pin to break the lock. Over and over again he used all his strength to hit the lock, hoping that it would give in and snap open. With one loud clang, the lock broke and fell to the floor. Angel threw down the rolling pin and threw open the door. Looking into the freezer, he gasped and staggered back a few steps.  
  
There Riley Finn sat, surrounded by piles of meat. His eyes were wide open; staring into space as if knowing his time had ran out. The pieces of Angel's torn sweatshirt were still wrapped around Riley's arm and hardened lines of blood stained his arm. His skin was a sickening icy blue and Angel knew at once that he was too late. Riley Finn had frozen to death and it was all his fault.  
  
"No, not just me. Spike," he said quietly and reached into his pocket for his cell phone. Dialing a number he knew by heart, he shut the door to the freezer without giving another glance to Riley.  
  
"'Lo?" the British blonde answered from the other end of the line.  
  
"Spike, get up now," Angel said. He could hear Spike groan and curse.  
  
"You better have a bloody good reason for calling at 3 in the bleedin' morning mate," Spike said.  
  
"Come to the school cafeteria. Now," Angel said and pushed END on his phone. Sighing again for the thousandth time that night, he waited quietly in the kitchen for Spike to arrive.

  
  
Spike had a better reaction than Angel thought he would have had. He just looked at Riley's form and shook his head.  
  
"Well?" Angel asked. Spike pulled out a cigarette from his leather duster and lit it.  
  
"You've got yourself a problem," Spike said. Angel slammed his hand on the metal countertop.  
  
"We. We've got ourselves a problem," he clarified. Spike nodded his mistake and blew out a lungful breath of smoke.  
  
"At least he won't get a chance to tattle on us now," he said. Angel glared at his friend for that comment. "Look, we can turn this anyway we want but he's dead Angel. It's done and over with. We can't help him now."  
  
"So what do we do? People are going to get suspicious when he doesn't turn up for school Monday. We can't just dump his body in a river and get on with our lives. The cops will figure it out eventually," Angel yelled.  
  
"Yeah, they will," Spike agreed. "But not if we lead them off the path first."  
  
"What do you mean?" Angel asked. Spike walked over to the sink and wet a rag lying by the edge. Quickly, he wiped down the whole freezer and the floor around it.  
  
"I don't think that's going to help Spike," Angel said. "I mean they're still going to look for a killer."  
  
"Not if they already know who it is," Spike said.  
  
"Huh?" Angel asked. Spike gave him an up-to-no-good-grin.  
  
"Follow me," he said and shut the lights off. Angel knew something was not good but he didn't really feel like staying with Riley in the dark.  
  
"Where are we going?" Angel asked after a few minutes. Spike walked over to a door and got out a lock pick. After a few minutes, he managed to get the lock open and the two went inside. Angel flipped the lights and saw they were in the computer lab. "Ok, you want to type something?"  
  
"Look, we type a suicide note, typed to they can't compare writing, and we attach it to the freezer. When the janitor comes on Monday morning, the cops and everyone will assume he killed himself," Spike explained.  
  
"What about the blood?" Angel asked.  
  
"I'll clean the wound and make it so he's hidden. You type the note and we'll meet in 20 minutes," Spike replied. "Oh, but make sure you write it out first so you know what you're going to type."  
  
"Ok. Meet you in a little bit." Angel said and sat down at one of the computers. Finding a blank sheet of paper and pen, he sat and wrote. After about five minutes, he finished and reread it. Liking the way it sounded, he pulled Microsoft Word on the computer and began typing:  
  
**Dear Mom and Dad,  
  
I am sorry but I can't go on with my life. I feel like everything is just too much and I can't take it anymore. I guess I'm just not the perfect son you wanted. I love you both but I'm sorry. Goodbye. -Riley**  
  
Pressing the print button, Angel shut everything down and grabbed the freshly printed note. With one last look at the room, he turned off the light and closed the door.

  
  
Monday morning rolled around quite quickly to Angel and he dreaded the scene he'd arrive to in an hour. Arriving at Buffy's house as usual, he barely said anything to her when she got into his car.  
  
"Hey Angel," she greeted. "Have a good day yesterday?"  
  
"It was ok. I mostly slept," he replied. The rest of the ride was silent between the two. When they got to the school, they both saw police cars and paramedics all over campus.  
  
"Wonder what happened?" Buffy asked. Angel nodded silently and parked his car. When they got out, Xander and Willow ran up to them with grim looks on their faces.  
  
"Buffy, Angel, did you hear?" Willow asked.  
  
"Hear what?" Buffy asked. Xander pointed to the police walking around.  
  
"The cafeteria lady found a dead body in the freezer this morning," Xander explained.  
  
"Oh my god! Who was it?" Buffy asked. Willow looked toward Xander and sighed.  
  
"Buffy, it was Riley," she said. Buffy let out a gasp and covered her mouth with her hands. "I'm so sorry Buffy. They said it looks like he's been there for a couple days. The last time he was seen by anyone was Saturday night. He had practice and he didn't go home."  
  
"Do they know anything else?" Angel asked. He kept his expression as grim as he could but kept on the lookout for Spike. Xander nodded.  
  
"We overheard the paramedics telling Snyder that they found a note typed by him. They said it is a suicide," he said.  
  
"Suicide? Are you sure?" Buffy asked. There were tears in eyes and she was trying not to cry but failing.  
  
"Yeah. The note supposedly said that he failed everyone and life was getting too hard. Oh, but there was something else. A knife," Xander said. Angel looked up at the mention of a knife.  
  
"What? A knife? What knife?" he asked Xander.  
  
"The cops found a knife near his body. There was also a cut on his arm and blood everywhere. Looks like he cut himself first and tried to bleed to death. Instead he froze," Willow explained.  
  
"Oh my god," Buffy whispered. Willow and Xander took turns in comforting her but Buffy was too much in shock.  
  
"So what's happening now?" Angel asked, pulling Buffy into his arms and hugging her for support.  
  
"I think they're canceling class today. I'm going to go see what the actual word is," Xander said. "Wanna come with?" he asked Willow.  
  
"Uh, yeah," she said and took her boyfriend's hand. "Are you going to be ok Buffy?" she asked.  
  
"I don't know Will. I just need to get out of here," Buffy replied.  
  
"I'll take her home. Call me later to let me know what else they found ok. Keep me updated," Angel told Xander. After Xander and Willow left, Angel walked Buffy back to his car and helped her get in.  
  
"Buffy, do you want me to take you home?" he asked her. Buffy wiped her eyes and nodded. "Are you going to be ok?" he asked her. A few fresh tears rolled down her face as she turned to look at him.  
  
"Angel, all this time I thought he stood me up. Here I was all mad at him when he was actually dead. How could I?" she said.  
  
"You didn't know. It just happened, no matter how much you think it's your fault. Don't blame yourself," Angel said. "Here, have some chocolate. It'll make you feel better." Buffy took the chocolate he gave her and started to eat it.  
  
"Thanks Angel," she said after a few minutes. Angel turned to give her a smile but couldn't. Again, she was in pain because of something he did. Pulling up to her house, he silently watched Buffy get out and walk to the door.  
  
"This is gone too far," Angel said aloud. Putting the car in drive, he sped toward Spike's house.


	4. Switched Pain

Murderer Too Young  
  
Chapter 4- Switched Pain  
  
Thanks to everyone who has reviewed, it's really inspired me to continue with this. I had started a while ago and I lost my groove, and it's just really nice to get back to this.  
  


Angel walked up to Spike's house and knocked on the door. It took a while, but a drowsy looking Spike opened the door.  
  
"Angel, what are you doing here?" Spike asked, but was pushed back inside by Angel. "Hey! Watch it mate!"  
  
"I'm not your mate. Not anymore," Angel replied. "What the hell do you think you're doing? Leaving evidence at the crime scene? Do you want to get caught?"  
  
"Oh, you mean the knife? I figured it would look better as a suicide if we made it look like the wanker tried to bleed himself dry before resorting to the freezer," Spike explained, sitting on the couch.  
  
"That's all fine and great, but you left your knife! The police are going to trace it back to you and we're going to get caught," Angel yelled. Spike threw on a t-shirt and stood up.  
  
"How many bloody times do I have to tell you? Since they think it's a suicide, they're not going to give it a second thought. There will be a funeral, a wake, and people will grieve, but it will be forgotten in a month's time. Stop worrying so damn much."  
  
"But it was still covered in his blood from two nights ago. You were supposed to clean the wound and get rid of the knife. Throw it in the river or something. But you left it there," Angel said angrily.  
  
"Look, it's done, alright? The police think it was a suicide right?" Spike verified. Angel nodded. "Then end of story. Get on with your life. Go for the girl and forget about all this mess."  
  
"But it's not that simple anymore. Buffy is devastated and it makes me feel even worse. I did all this to get her away from Riley but all it did was make her feel horrible. This was not supposed to go down like this. All I was supposed to do was make sure Riley didn't go out with her on Saturday," Angel said.  
  
"And he didn't," Spike said. Angel shook his head.  
  
"We killed him Spike!" Angel yelled. Spike set his jaw tight.  
  
"Hold up there. 'We'? No, there is no 'we'. It's me and it's you, but there is no 'we'. Clear?" Spike explained. Angel frowned.  
  
"What? No, you were a part of this too," he told Spike.  
  
"It's over mate. Now go back to the school and see what's new, and then go home and enjoy yourself. Hell, throw a party," Spike instructed. Angel sighed.  
  
"Fine, whatever. Just make an appearance at school. Your absence might raise some sort of suspicion," Angel told him. Spike nodded and walked Angel to the door.  
  
"So, you say Buffy's feeling a bit down eh?" Spike asked. Angel nodded. "Right then, off you go. Send everyone my love then, yeah? Bye!" he said quickly and closed the door on Angel's face. Angel took a deep breath before walking down the walkway to his car.  
  
The days went by quickly and soon a week had passed since the murder, or in the minds of everyone else but Angel and Spike, the suicide. Although Spike was not right about one thing, the funeral and wake had passed but Riley's death was still the most talked about thing in the halls of Sunnydale High.  
  
Xander, Willow, Buffy, and Angel were sitting at a lunch table one day. Willow and Xander were sharing the story of them watching the police investigate the crime scene last week.  
  
"So, we're just walking into the cafeteria to get some orange juice and there were like 30 cops. When we asked what happened, they made us leave," Willow said.  
  
"But not before I got a glimpse of the body," Xander added. Buffy rolled her eyes.  
  
"Xander, stop talking about him like he was an 'it'. This was a guy that's gone to school with you since the age of five," she told him. Xander shrugged.  
  
"Hey, not saying that I wished him dead, but 10 years of being picked on is something that I'm not gonna just forget just because he's dead," he said. Buffy shook her head at him.  
  
"How are you dealing with it Angel? You haven't talked about it at all," Willow asked. Angel froze slightly, trying not to look guilty. He had this feeling that they would figure it all out soon and he'd be caught.  
  
"Oh, well I'm ok. Didn't really like him anyways," he replied.  
  
"Say, has anyone seen Spike? Hasn't been here in a few days," Willow asked. Angel frowned at the mention of Spike. He had told him to show up at school but Spike had only been here the day of the funeral. Since then, there was no word.  
  
"Uh, probably just staying home, hanging out," Angel replied quickly. _'_**Gotta keep him and me away from any suspicion,'** he thought.  
  
"Well, I better go. See you guys later," Buffy said. She got up and walked toward the cafeteria door and into the hallway.  
  
Angel so badly wanted to ask her out. He had wanted to since before the year began and it was also the reason he went after Riley the way he did. But every time he was about to, he saw the pain in her eyes and he just couldn't.  
  
He knew Buffy still blamed herself for being mad at Riley the night he died and it made him feel even crummier because it was all his fault. **'No,'** he reminded himself. **'Spike too. Gotta remember he was there too.'  
**  
The only thing he knew was that he needed all the Riley talk to just die down as quickly as possible. Until that happened, the dreams and thoughts and voices in his head would not die down either.  
  
The bell rang and Xander, Willow, and Angel stood up. "Gotta go to class man. See you later? The mall tonight, right?" Xander said.  
  
Angel nodded and watched his best friends walk out of the cafeteria together. He was going to meet Xander and Willow at the mall that night to go shopping for a present for Buffy. Her 18th birthday was this Saturday and he needed to still pick out a gift.  
  
He decided at that moment that on Saturday, he would ask her to go out with him. What better day than then?  
  
  
  
The Sunnydale Mall was packed for a weeknight.  
  
Willow had stopped in Victoria's Secret to get a couple of Buffy's favorite scents in bottles of lotion and body spray. Xander had found a couple CDs that Buffy wanted for some time now and he decided to get her those. Angel took the most time deciding what to get her. He wanted to get something nice and original. Not something that someone else might get her.  
  
He finally decided on a Claddaugh Ring. The guy in the jewelry shop said it was a symbol of friendship. And that was sometime he always wanted to have with Buffy. No matter what happened between them and who ever else they met in life, he wanted to always be her friend.  
  
"Well, that was exhausting. I don't know how you girls do this on a weekly basis," Xander said to Willow. They had all found seats in the food court and were resting from their long night of shopping. Long for Angel and Xander anyways.  
  
"It's a gift," Willow replied, smiling at her boyfriend. Xander thought of something.  
  
"You still think I'm a manly man right?" he asked her. Willow smirked and laughed.  
  
"Yes, full of manliness." Xander breathed a sigh of relief and continued eating his plate of nachos.  
  
"Hey, look. There's Buffy," Angel told them. He pointed to the line at the Taco Bell stand. She was standing in line waiting for her turn at the counter. "Quick, hide the-"  
  
Bags was what he was going to say. That is until he saw Spike walk over to her. He felt his stomach fall out of its place when he saw Spike lean down to give her a kiss.  
  
"Whoa! Who would have guessed that? Spike and Buffy?" Xander exclaimed.  
  
Willow saw Angel's face and immediately felt for him. She had always thought that Buffy and Angel were a perfect match. She had tried tell her friend this for years now and she knew that Buffy liked him as well, but neither of them had ever made any attempt to get together.  
  
She watched as Angel close his eyes and sigh deeply. He opened them and she saw the slight glimmer of wetness in them. "Angel? You ok?" she quietly asked him and put a hand on his arm. He shook it off immediately and nodded.  
  
"Yeah. Hey, I gotta go. I'll see you guys tomorrow," he said and almost ran the opposite way. Xander turned around and saw Angel leaving.  
  
"Where's he going?" he asked Willow. Turning to Xander, she looked at him and sighed almost as sadly as Angel did.  
  
"He had to leave," she said. "Something came up."  
  
**'That son of a bitch,'** Angel thought to himself. Seeing the girl he loved kissing the guy who was supposed to be his friend was bad enough. But what was worse was that Spike knew that he wanted Buffy. That was the whole point of going after Riley.  
  
He heard the footsteps, and without even looking he knew who it was.  
  
"Angel?" Buffy said. Angel didn't look up at first, but didn't want her to think he was mad at her, so her silently looked at her. "What's wrong? I was walking by and I saw you were in total brood mode. Something happen?"  
  
Oh that was great. She saw him pouting on his front porch. That was the last thing he needed.  
  
"No, I'm fine," he lied. Now he was lying to her. Perfect.  
  
"You sure?" she asked. "You can always tell me anything."  
  
"Saw you at the mall tonight," he said. "Spike huh?" He watched as her eyes gazed down to her shoes and she played with the shoe string.  
  
"Yeah. Spike. Don't really know how that happened. He started calling me this week, asking if I was doing ok. We started to really talk, like for hours. Then a couple nights ago, he kissed me," she told him. Then looking at Angel, she smiled. "It's nice. He's been a real comfort this last week. The whole thing with Riley really tore me up inside but Spike listened and helped me through it."  
  
"Imagine that," Angel said bitterly. Buffy didn't fail to notice.  
  
"What's wrong?" she asked him. Angel put his face in his hands and sighed.  
  
"Really hurt seeing you kiss him," he said. Buffy closed her eyes and sighed as well.  
  
"Why haven't you said anything?" she asked. There was a brief pause. "How long?"  
  
"Long enough."  
  
"You could have said something sooner, you know. What was the wait for?"  
  
"I don't know. I really can't say why I've waited all these years," Angel started. Buffy shook her head.  
  
"Years? Well, I really don't know why you waited either," she said. "All these years of dancing, driving me to school, watching movies at each other's house, laughing at stupid things. All this time."  
  
"Look, I know how stupid and chicken I was, and I really regret being like that. But I was afraid of you saying no. I didn't think I could stand it if our friendship ended all because my feelings for you were only one way," Angel explained.  
  
"You wouldn't have had to worry about that. I would have said yes," she told him. Standing up, she started to walk away from his house and down the street.  
  
Angel just looked on after her and sighed. He picked up a pebble from the ground and threw it as far as he could throw it.  
  


A/N: Ok, next chappie is where the real damage starts. Promise I'll have it out sooner than this chapter came out. I'll try to alternate as much as I can between this one and Desert Tales. Oh, and reviews make me smile.


	5. Betrayal

Murderer Too Young  
  
Chapter 5 – Betrayal  
  
Author's Note: Ok, this part is gonna boil some blood. I made it as long as I could but I plan on having one more part after this one. Maybe two. At any rate, read and review and enjoy.  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own BtVS or AtS. All belongs to the genius that is Joss.  
  
  
  
After watching Buffy walk away from his house, from him, Angel did all he could to try not to break something. His life was crumbling right before his eyes and no matter what he tried to do to fix it, it just kept breaking.  
  
Deciding to take a walk, he grabbed his coat and headed off toward downtown Sunnydale. Halfway there, he got an urge and he turned around and headed toward Restfield Cemetery.  
  
Arriving at the grave, he knelt down on the bench that stood near Riley's plot. He didn't know why he was here. But he did know he had to be. Riley's face would stay with him forever, but he thought that by doing this, he'd get some peace for a while.  
  
"Hey," he said to the nice marble headstone. "I know, you're probably wondering why I'm here. And to tell the truth, I have no idea either. But I need to say something to you that I should have just told you in the hallway in between classes instead of picking a fight with you." He paused, looking at the ground.  
  
"I'm sorry. I never wanted you dead. I was just trying to protect her. I didn't want her to be with a rich kid jock. See, I was actually trying to get her too. So I wanted to prove I was better," he continued. "But hey, we both lost. Instead, Spike got her. Yeah, I know. I actually would prefer you, but that's just my opinion."  
  
With that, Angel stood from the bench. He walked away from Riley's gave, and didn't look back.  
  
  
  
Angel felt awful. He spent have the night up because he just couldn't sleep. The image of Spike and Buffy together haunted his thoughts the whole night. Not only that, but his talk with Buffy weighed down heavily as well. He didn't know what he would say to her when he saw her at school. Would she avoid him now? He wished things were just easier so he could think for a whole 5 minutes without his head exploding.  
  
When he drove to Buffy's house, he waited at least ten minutes before he realized she wasn't coming. Now he had reason to believe she would try to stay away from him today.  
  
When he got to school, he walked to his locker, pulled out his English book and walked slowly to class. The bell rang and he sat down next to Xander.  
  
"You look like shit," Xander told him when he sat down. Angel just wanted to laugh at that. If Xander only knew why.  
  
"Yeah, rough night," he replied. He glanced at the front of the room where Willow and Buffy were sitting. They were in the middle of a conversation and he noticed that Willow would occasionally glance back at Angel before continuing to listen.  
  
"Hey, is this about Buffy and Spike? Because if it is, you really need to let it not get to you. It's just a thing right now. Buffy will see how Spike really is and in a few days time, that'll be old news," Xander said. Angel looked over at Xander and sighed.  
  
"You think?" he asked. Xander patted his buddy's shoulder.  
  
"For the sake of my sanity, I sure hope so," he replied. Angel was about to say something when Xander frowned.  
  
"What?" Angel asked. Xander pointed behind him.  
  
"Snyder. Wonder what the rodent wants," he said. Angel turned to look over at the Principal. Snyder made eye contact with Angel and seemed to almost smile with glee. Angel didn't like that look.  
  
"O'Connor. My office, now," he said. Xander looked over at Angel and gave him a 'what'd you do?' look. Angel shrugged and gathered his notebook and book. He passed Buffy and Willow and could feel their stares.  
  
When he was in the hallway, he was tackled from behind and pushed into the row of lockers. He grunted in pain and hissed at the sting from the cut he knew was now on his forehead.  
  
"What the?" he asked. He turned his head slightly to see one police officer holding him down while another secured handcuffs around his wrists.  
  
"You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in the court of law..." the second police officer said. Angel looked up at Snyder, who looked as though he won the lottery.  
  
"No use struggling," Snyder said. "You're not getting out of this."  
  
Angel was hoisted to his feet and led toward Snyder's office. People stared at him along the way, all wondering what Angel O'Connor could have done to get arrested.  
  
When they entered the office, Angel sat in a chair and watched as the door was closed. Two more officers joined them and Snyder sat down in his seat.  
  
"Do you know why you're here?" he asked Angel. "Even a guess as to why I pulled you out of class and had two officers here handcuff you?"  
  
"Maybe you're making a mistake. I didn't do anything," Angel growled. Snyder laughed.  
  
"No need to lie. We have full proof to what you did. But before we get into you're act of trouble, did you really think you'd get away with it?" A hole formed at the bottom of Angel's stomach but he was determined to look innocent.  
  
"With what?" he said, trying to keep his voice calm. He kept getting the urge to get up and knock that stupid smirk off of Snyder's face. Unlucky for him, using his hands was not an option.  
  
"This morning, I received a visit from an interesting person. He told me quite a tale, one that I didn't believe until he showed me this," Snyder said, placing a sheet of notebook paper in front of Angel.  
  
Angel stopped breathing when he looked at the paper. There, in his writing, was the suicide note. The words he wrote in order to get any type of evidence leading to him out of the picture. But there it was.  
  
And now he knew he was toast.  
  
"Send him in," Snyder said into his desk intercom. The door opened and one of the office ladies led Spike into the office.  
  
Angel took one look at him and nearly lunged.  
  
"You sonuvabitch!" he yelled, trying to break the handcuffs so he could beat Spike to death. "You betrayed me! You set me up!"  
  
Spike took a few steps back and watched as two officers held Angel back and forced him to sit.  
  
"That's enough O'Connor," Snyder said. "Crawford here informed me that he found this exact replica of Riley Finn's "suicide" note in your locker. I've already compared writing and it matched exactly. He also tells me that you stole his knife and used it to wound Finn right before you locked him inside the cafeteria freezer."  
  
Angel was beyond pissed. This was just about the lowest thing anyone had ever done to him. Spike had not only stolen the one thing he has wanted for years, but he now betrayed him and set him up as a murderer.  
  
That's when things started to fall into place. Why else had Spike been so eager in helping him into getting rid of Riley? Spike had this whole thing planned from the start. Injure Riley, lock him into a freezer, have Angel write a rough draft of the note, and then as soon as he got Buffy, turn the game around and have all the evidence point to Angel.  
  
Angel didn't know how he didn't see it from the start. Especially that night. Why didn't he think when Spike told him to write a copy of the note? Who writes a rough draft of a suicide note? Apparently Angel did and now, Spike was using that fact to his advantage.  
  
"Anything you have to say for yourself?" Snyder asked Angel, wide smirk planted right on his rodent face. Angel looked over at Spike and just wished he could make Spike's head explode with his mind.  
  
"No," was all he said. Spike smirked and looked to Snyder.  
  
"What's gonna happen to him?" he asked. Snyder looked giddy at the thought of explaining Angel's fate.  
  
"Prison obviously. He's 18, and now legally old enough to end up there. As far as his record here, expelled. If I know the Governor, and I actually do, he won't be allowed in any school in the state. Tonight though, he'll probably spend the night in jail," he said. "Well, if everything here is taken care of, I have some phone calls to make. Parents first, then the family of Riley is next. They deserve to know who killed their son."  
  
The police officers hoisted Angel up and led him out into the office. Spike decided to tag along, grinning the whole way until they reached the hallway. Once they walked into the hall, Angel groaned to see that most of the school was standing there. Including his friends. Xander, Willow, and Buffy were immediately walking with him.  
  
"Angel? What the hell is going on? Why are the cops here? Why are they taking you?" Xander asked, trying to keep up with the officers that were escorting Angel toward the exit.  
  
"Angel? What happened?" Buffy demanded. "Tell me."  
  
Angel stopped walking and turned to face his friends. "I..." he got out.  
  
"Attention all students. This is your Principal speaking. It is with great sadness to inform all of you that Riley Finn was in fact murdered. His killer was one of our own. Several officers of the Sunnydale PD are now escorting him off campus. Thank you," came the voice of Snyder.  
  
The whole hall became silent. Angel had to close his eyes so he didn't have to look his friends in the eye.  
  
"Please tell me that I just heard a lie?" Xander asked aloud, eyes never leaving Angel. Willow shook her head in denial and slowly backed away from Angel.  
  
"Spare yourself the pain and just don't look at me," Angel mumbled to them. He opened his eyes and the first thing he saw was the pain and betrayal in Buffy's eyes.  
  
"I'm sorry," he said to her. "I'm sorry you have to hear this-"  
  
"Push off now Peaches. Don't you ever look at her again," Spike said to him, coming from behind Buffy and putting his arms around her. "Don't listen to him luv. He's been lying to you."  
  
"Get your filthy hands off her!" Angel growled at him. Spike just held her closer.  
  
"I trusted you. You were my best friend," she managed to say.  
  
All eyes were on him as the police officers walked him out of the hallway and to the police car.  
  
  
  
His cell was cold. It was already night and the cold autumn air seeped through from the outside.  
  
He already saw his parents, who glanced at him while they talked with the police chief. When his father tried to ask him why he did it, Angel just sat on the bed and stared at the wall. His mother had cried the whole time. He didn't dare look at them in the eye.  
  
He was too busy thinking of how to get his revenge.  
  
"Angel?"  
  
Snapping out of his thoughts, Angel turned to the bars and saw Xander. His friend looked like he found out his puppy died. It really pained Angel to see his best friend looking at him like that, but he completely understood. If roles were switched, he'd a looked at Xander the same way.  
  
"Didn't think I'd ever see you again," Angel said quietly. Xander put his hands in his pockets.  
  
"Not to sound like a grown up scolding a child here, but why'd you do it? I mean, I've known you forever. I never thought you'd do something like this. Hell, I would have thought Willow a killer before you," Xander said.  
  
"I wish things didn't have to go like this," Angel said. "I never wanted you guys to find out like that."  
  
"I know you didn't like the guy. I didn't either. But kill him? Please tell me that you didn't do it and this is all some big, mistake," Xander begged.  
  
Angel stood up for the first time in hours and walked over toward his friend.  
  
"Don't let Spike touch her. If you ever do anything for me again, do this. Don't let Spike anywhere near Buffy. I want you to tell that bastard off and kick his ass for me," he told Xander.  
  
"I know you're mad at Spike for turning you in but-"  
  
"You don't know anything. I promise I will tell you the truth. But first, I need you to do this for me," Angel said coldly. Xander sighed.  
  
"Sure man. I hate the guy probably as much as you do. I'll make sure Buffy isn't within 100 feet from him," he promised. Angel slipped his hand between the bars for Xander to shake. Looking him right in the eyes, Xander took Angel's hand and shook it firmly.  
  
"Thank you," Angel said. Xander nodded once and let go. With a silent goodbye, Xander turned and walked back to the exit door. The guard let him through the door and then he was gone.  
  
  
  
Thanks to everyone who has responded to this story thus far. Been a big support system for me. I will get the next part of Desert Tales by Friday. I'm currently in summer school right now and so I'll use the time I do have to finish this one and continue with that one. One last part left. Until next time... 


	6. Real Friends Don't Leave

Murderer Too Young  
  
Chapter 6 – Real Friends Don't Leave  
  
Author's Note: Yeah, I know. Been over a week since I updated. Sorry 'bout that. Life stuff got in the way. So yeah, here's the final chapter of "Murderer Too Young". Hope you all enjoyed these last 6 chapters and thanks to everyone who did show their support by reviewing.  
  
Oh, and just a little heads up. I know nothing of court cases and trials so please excuse the horrible scene that you're about to read. Beware, the first part of this is really slow and not with the rest of the story. I was a bit shaky when I started again but it gets better.  
  


"Has the jury reached a verdict?" the judge asked. All eyes were on the group of jurors as one of them stood up.  
  
"Yes your honor, we have," he replied. "The jury finds Mr. O'Connor guilty of murder one and is guilty on all charges held against him."  
  
"Very well. This case is adjourned."  
  
Angel didn't seem to be listening to his sentence at all. At this point, he was pretty much done trying to blame Spike. No one had even tried to listen to him when he was talking, so he didn't think he would listen to anything the law had to say.  
  
He was too busy looking over his shoulder at the small group of people that had come to support him. He watched as his parents numbly stood up and followed most of the people out. That didn't hit him hard as seeing his three best friends looking right at him. Well, Xander was anyway. Willow was busy wiping tears from her eyes and Buffy wasn't even looking up. He stood, wanting to get one last word with the three of them before he would be locked up for probably life.  
  
Instead, the first person to walk over to him was Spike.  
  
"Hey, too bad about the trial huh? Those damn jurors had it in for you ever since the note was shown to them. Never stood a chance," Spike said to him, fake sullen expression. Angel fought the urge to punch his lights out and just stood there. He felt there was no more need to fight and accuse. Spike had already had that down pat.  
  
"Get the hell out of my face," Angel mumbled under his breath, but wanting Spike to hear.  
  
"Hey, don't get mad at me for your little predicament. I wasn't the one who got caught," Spike said. One of the guards ushered him toward the exit and Angel couldn't do anything in his handcuffed state but oblige.  
  
"Wait! Wait a minute," Xander cried out, trying to get past the people that were exiting as well.  
  
"Look Xander, I don't think there's anything else to say..." Angel started to say but Xander waved that away with his hand.  
  
"I don't care what all the evidence says. Just because it all points to you doesn't mean you did this. You were set up weren't you?" he asked. Angel nodded and looked over toward Spike, who was trying to comfort Buffy.  
  
"Yeah, I was set up. But that doesn't matter. Nothing I or anyone else can say will matter. Listen, stop by and visit me sometime today or tomorrow. I'll tell you everything then, I promise," Angel said. "And one more thing. Get her away from him now."  
  
Xander looked over toward Buffy, Willow, and Spike before realizing that Angel was being led outside the courtroom.  
  


He often said that high school was a lot like prison.  
  
Boy, was he wrong.  
  
Not only was Angel new, but he was constantly pushed around by a lot of the other guys. It wasn't an exaggeration to say that he was the punching bag in many fights. Not only that, but Xander hadn't come to see him like he was supposed to. It had been over a week since he'd arrived here and still no one.  
  
"O'Connor, you have a visitor," the guard, Frank, called out to him from the door. Angel literally jumped up from his bed and followed Frank toward the hall exit. Once he got there, he came to the visitor area. It looked exactly the same as all the other glass windows he'd seen in movies. Walking to an empty chair, he looked on the other side of the glass and saw three pairs of eyes giving him sympathy. Probably for how beat up he looked.  
  
He started to speak but then remembered that it was a soundproof glass and he picked up the hanging phone.  
  
"Hey guys, thought you forgot about me," he said.  
  
"Angel, what happened to you?" Willow asked. Xander took the phone from her next to talk.  
  
"Sorry, we came as soon as we could. As soon as I knew that we could ditch Spike," he said. Angel nodded.  
  
"Thank Xand. You've been making sure he's keeping away?" he asked. Xander nodded and handed the phone to Buffy, who couldn't help but look down.  
  
"Angel, I'm sorry for what happened. But tell us what happened, please?" she asked. Angel looked casually behind him to make sure that the guards weren't around to hear.  
  
"I didn't kill Riley. That's all you guys need to know right now," he said. Willow took the phone from Buffy.  
  
"Wait, what was that? Not everyone hears at the same time y'know," she said. Angel repeated what he just said before.  
  
"Give the phone to Xander. He can tell you what I said afterwards. This phone switching thing is confusing me," he added. Willow did as he asked and Xander now had the phone.  
  
"Listen, I'm going to tell you everything. Don't tell them everything though. There are some things that they don't need to know," he told Xander. "Ok, remember that night were you watched Dawn? At Buffy's house?"  
  
"Yeah. That was the night that Riley was killed. So what happened?" Xander asked.  
  
"Riley was making a move on Buffy the day before and I was jealous. So Spike helped me with a plan to beat up Riley so he would miss his date. There was no plan to ever kill him. Anyways, things went bad and Spike pulled out his knife, and stabbed Riley in the arm. Since he was unconscious, we didn't want him to rat us out and so we put him in the freezer. I didn't know that's what it was at first. So we went home. I couldn't sleep so I went back to check on him. That's when I saw that the freezer was on and it was locked. By the time I opened it, Riley was dead. I called Spike then and he suggested that we make it look like a suicide so we wouldn't get caught. I wrote the note, and we finished. After that, I thought it would go away. But things got worse. Spike only helped me with all this so that he could make it backfire on me and he could get Buffy. So you can see why I want the son of a bitch dead, right?" Angel explained. Xander's jaw was open and when Willow asked what Angel said, Xander closed it and cleared his throat.  
  
"Wow, you should have said something man. Too much guilt and worry isn't good for you," he replied. "Yeah, I can see the reason for hate. But how are you gonna get him to confess. I don't think he's gonna volunteer."  
  
"I have a plan. But it involves you talking to the police. Tell them that I have a way for him to confess without him even knowing it. Please Xander, don't tell Buffy that it's Spike. I want him to be there when she finds out," Angel said. Xander nodded and gave the phone over to Buffy, who had been bugging Xander about it for the last few minutes.  
  
"You're a jerk, you know that?" she said. Angel was a little taken back, but he figured he deserved it.  
  
"What makes you say that?" he asked her. She sighed.  
  
"Because all this time you knew and you never said anything. Plus, you made it seem like it was you at school last week," she said. Angel raised an eyebrow at that.  
  
"What makes you think I didn't do it?" he asked her.  
  
"Because it's not in you. You're not a killer. I should have remembered that from the start," she replied. Angel smiled at that but winced at the slight pain from the cuts and bruises on his face. "What did they do to you here?"  
  
"The other occupants here aren't very friendly. I miss you guys, everyday. It's so hard here, I don't know how long I can last," Angel replied.  
  
"Well, just keep your head high and show them that you're not weak," she said. Frank the guard tapped Angel's shoulder and told him his time was up. Angel said goodbye to Willow, Xander, and Buffy before walking back to his cell.  
  
  
  
"Ok Xander, spill it," Willow told him as soon as they were in the parking lot. Xander tried to ignore them until he figured out exactly what was ok for him to tell them. He was snapped out of his thoughts when Willow and Buffy both smacked his arms.  
  
"Hey! What's with the aggression?" he asked defensively.  
  
"You were the one who heard Angel's side of the story. What did he say?" Buffy asked him.  
  
"Ok, I'll tell you the basics. Angel didn't do it, someone we know was in on it too, and Angel's gonna try to get the other guy in jail and prove his innocence," Xander explained.  
  
"Wait, what do you mean someone we know? Who was in on this as well?" Willow asked. Xander tried to say something, anything, that would get them off that question.  
  
"Angel didn't want me to tell you..." he started to say.  
  
"Xander, is it Spike?" Buffy asked him. Xander sighed and nodded. "So that's why Angel was so pissed off at Spike that day. Well, so why did Angel get caught and Spike didn't?"  
  
"Because Spike was the one who turned Angel in. He had planned this from the start and was able to get all the evidence to point to Angel. Spike figured that when Angel was out of the picture, he would get what he wanted in the first place. You," Xander told her. Buffy shook her head and chuckled.  
  
"So that's why he started to talk to me all of a sudden. I can't believe this!" she said.  
  
"Spike set up Angel? But why did he want Angel out of the picture. If he wanted to ask Buffy out, all he had to do was ask before Angel did. Did he have to set him up for murder?" Willow asked.  
  
"Well, we are talking about Spike here. I don't think he's smart enough to ever have though about doing everything the easy way. Listen, we need to make Spike think everything is fine. Angel has a plan on getting him in jail and Spike needs to think we know nothing about his involvement for this to work," Xander told both girls.  
  
"What's the plan?" Buffy asked. Xander grinned widely.  
  
"It's a good one, I'll tell you that," he replied.  
  


As Angel was led by Frank, he prayed that Spike was dumb enough to fall for this. All he needed was for the right things to be said and he would be home free. Key word being free.  
  
Frank opened the private visiting room door and motioned Angel inside. Once he took the handcuffs off of Angel's wrists, he gave him a pat on the shoulder before leaving. Angel took a seat at one of the chairs and waited. The door opened and Spike strolled in, big smile on his face. Angel inhaled silently and gave his best glare toward his ex-friend.  
  
"Anyone ever tell you that orange is your color?" Spike asked once he sat down. Angel didn't reply. "Oh c'mon mate, you're not still mad about me tattling are you?"  
  
"You've got a lot of nerve to actually come here and see me," Angel finally said, his face expressionless. Spike chuckled.  
  
"Nice to see you too Angel."  
  
"Why'd you do it Spike? Why'd you turn me in when it was you who actually killed him?" Angel asked. He didn't think Spike knew he knew that it was all about Buffy in the first place. That was better for him.  
  
"I needed you out of the way is why. Did you think you were the only bloke in school who was in love with Buffy?" Spike replied. Angel laughed.  
  
"So that's it huh? You love Buffy so you decided to what, set me up, kill Riley, and then make a move?" Spike looked content at that moment.  
  
"Yeah, that's about it," he replied.  
  
"How'd you do it?" What was the master plan?" Angel asked.  
  
"Does it really matter now?" Spike asked. Angel smirked.  
  
"Oh c'mon Spike. Humor me. It's the least you can do for me now. Besides, a lot of the other guys keep asking me how I got in here. I wanna give 'em a good story," he said.  
  
"Oh right. Tell all your prison buddies the truth. Well alright. Doesn't make much of a difference now I guess," Spike said. "Well, you see I needed something that without, I would've never been able to do this."  
  
"And what was that?" Angel asked.  
  
"A ponce like you. I needed a bonehead so I could make this all happen. Remember when you found Riley in the freezer? Well guess who turned it on?"  
  
"You said a janitor turned it on," Angel said.  
  
"You're so damn gullible aren't you? Think Angel! Would there really be a janitor at school at 11 at night?"  
  
"So then what? What about the note?"  
  
"I needed some evidence to show Snyder and the cops. Your handwritten note was the key. Was almost too easy. I mean, who writes a draft of a suicide note? Only someone as brain-dead as you," Spike replied.  
  
"So you led Riley into the school cafeteria, he saw me, you attacked him from behind, stabbed him, locked him in the freezer, which you told me was a pantry," Angel clarified.  
  
"Doing good so far," Spike replied.  
  
"Then you tricked me into writing the note, you take the master copy, show Snyder, and I get arrested," Angel concluded.  
  
"Ding, ding! We have a winner... or in you're case, a loser," Spike said.  
  
"I have to say, it's a great plan. Real brain thinker. And all this time I thought you were helping me," Angel said. Spike smirked.  
  
"What can I say? I'm the world's best actor," he said. Angel's face went dark.  
  
"Second best," he corrected. Spike frowned.  
  
"What?" he asked. The guards came in through the door and one picked up Spike by the shoulder while another handcuffed him. Angel slowly stood up and unbuttoned the top of his orange uniform. There was a black wire taped to his chest.  
  
"See Spike, not only do I use my brain, I use it well. Enjoy prison. I'll come by and visit you every ten years," Angel said to the blonde. With that, he walked out of the room and shook hands with Frank.  
  
  
  
Buffy, Willow, and Xander were well into their movie. That was until the doorbell rang. Buffy got up to answer it.  
  
"This better be important. I'm missing a good part," she mumbled. When she opened the door, she came face to face with a grinning Angel. "Angel? Oh my god, you're back!"  
  
"Yeah, I'm back for good," Angel replied, returning the hug she was giving him. Xander and Willow came running out from the living room, big smiles on their faces.  
  
"So I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say it worked?" Xander asked.  
  
"They let you go? Spike's locked up now?" Willow asked. Angel nodded.  
  
"Yup, he fell right into the trap. The police are clearing my record, although I do have to do 60 hours of community service for withholding information on the murder. But otherwise I'm free," he told them.  
  
"So everything is good now? No more badness?" Willow asked.  
  
"No more badness," Angel assured.  
  
"Hey, wanna join our movie viewing? It kinda just started," Xander asked. Angel nodded. "Cool. Hey Will, wanna get more snacks?"  
  
"Sure, soda ok with everyone?" Willow asked. They all nodded and the redhead nearly ran into the kitchen while Xander walked back into the living room.  
  
"Wait a minute? What about school? Snyder expelled you," Buffy asked him. Angel smirked.  
  
"Oh I'll be back first thing Monday. The Governor made Snyder let me back in," he replied. Buffy smiled.  
  
"I'm glad you're ok. I don't know what I would have done if you would have been locked away forever," she told him.  
  
"I can mutually agree with that. I would have gone crazy in there without seeing you everyday," Angel said. Buffy inhaled deeply and sighed.  
  
"Look, I know what you went through when you saw me with Spike. But if I'd have known what he did to you, I would have never had gone out with him. I hope you know that." Angel replied by leaning down and kissing her.  
  
"I do," he replied after a few moments.  
  
"Good," Buffy said, before continuing their kiss.  
  
**THE END  
**  
  
  
Ok, there it is. Hope you all liked! And as a last request, review and tell me what you thought. Pretty please?


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